


A Light in the Darkness

by Data_HEX



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: DrauCor, Holding on to a semblance of hope, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Picking up where they left off, Searching, Titus Drautos Lives, Titus isn't Glauca, World of Ruin (Final Fantasy), World of Ruin Big Bang (Final Fantasy XV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:20:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29633844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Data_HEX/pseuds/Data_HEX
Summary: As the world falls into darkness, Cor is left searching for anyone still alive when someone he once thought to be dead appears on the "doorsteps" of Lestallum unannounced.
Relationships: Titus Drautos | Glauca/Cor Leonis
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16
Collections: World of Ruin Big Bang





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my World of Ruin mini bang piece! Without giving too much away before you've read it, I've toyed with this idea for quite some time. While some may say they could be too OOC for who they are, I think it lends to the entirety of the piece and how they're relationship grew being apart, and now being back together.
> 
> ALSO!!! The very talented Asoeiki was my partner for this event and did the comic strips for the beginning portion of my fic. You can find them here:
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/asoeiki  
> Tumblr: https://asoeiki.tumblr.com 
> 
> Please be sure to go get them some love!

There was something to be said about giving up hope, especially when the world had gone dark, and that darkness had become endless.

For Cor Leonis, he had given up hope after his continuous search efforts for members of the Kingsglaive or Crownsguard kept coming up empty after the fall of Insomnia. After the year anniversary of the fall, and the World of Ruin was upon them, he realized that those who were lost were likely lost forever and finally let himself mourn for them. One man in particular, he mourned the most.

Titus Drautos. 

While it hadn’t been public knowledge the two men had been together, certain people within the ranks of the Glaives and Guard, along with the King and his shield, knew they were a couple. They kept their relationship very private, and remained professional when out in public together. Cor loved Titus more than anything on Eos, and wanted nothing more for the man to be alive.

~~~~~

[](https://imgur.com/gVowfzi)  


It had been six months since the World of Ruined had begun, and trying to find a new semblance of normalcy had been difficult for most. Cor, while having the “Immortal” nickname, wasn’t immune to the struggling. He had stumbled a bit at first between working through his grief over the world losing Noctis, and trying to keep morale up for those working to keep everyone else alive.

Eventually, he had figured a decent routine outside of assembling the Kingsglaive back into a working unit; supply runs and daemon extermination missions, along with keeping things running smoothly back in Lestallum. He was no king, but he was someone that the people had turned to for guidance and support, someone to help plan their missions and ensure new refugees found residency within their safe walls.

So when Cor had been summoned to the outskirts of Lestallum because of a visitor, he thought nothing of it. It hadn’t been the first time they had called him in when a straggler showed up on their “doorstep”, and being the Marshal meant he had to finish the paperwork for each new person brought into the city. It’s not that they would never let anyone in, but it was a way of keeping track of people in case something were to happen to them. 

The walk from his apartment to the main gate was decent. Long enough that he could go over lists in his head of what needed to be done for the day, but short enough that he wouldn’t keep those at the gates waiting. As he approached, he saw that Libertus had met him there. “Marshal.”

“Ostium. Report?” 

“Says he’s been living in a cabin somewhere. Brought a truckful of things with him. Medical supplies, food, water. There’s more at his cabin as long as the daemons don’t destroy it first.” 

Cor hummed in response. “What brought him to town if he was surviving well enough on his own?” 

Libertus shrugged. “That’s something you’ll need to ask him yourself. They’ve gotten his paperwork all done, you just need to sign off on it.” 

Cor nodded and made his way through the gates. It had become routine at this point, so he expected nothing to be out of the ordinary. Today, however, was anything but ordinary.

[ ](https://imgur.com/q8eNRa3)

As he walked through the main gates, Cor stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who was on the other side of the table. He thought he was seeing a ghost. Titus Drautos, alive, in front of him? How was this possible? He searched for days, weeks, months, only to come up empty handed and resolved himself that he would never see his partner again. The thought had nearly broken him, and to see the man standing there now, stirred many emotions inside him.

“Hi, Cor…” Titus said softly. 

Taking a few steps closer, Cor looked Titus up and down in complete disbelief. He’s here. He’s alive. Where the fuck has he been? Relief was soon replaced with anger as he stopped in front of the man.

[ ](https://imgur.com/SHX4f4w)

“Hi Cor? Hi Cor?! That’s what you’re going to say to me? After I searched high and low for you for a year, even going as far as searching through the rubble of Insomnia, just to finally come to terms with the fact that you were dead. I was moving on, ignoring the rumors that you were actually Glauca; a traitor, or that you had been spotted around various woodlands. I was beginning to heal from the loss, and placed my energy into putting the Glaives back together again to help survive the endless night. Now you show up here, and just say ‘Hi Cor’ as if it’s only been a few days?”

Titus remained quiet, a look of guilt washed over his face. He went to speak and Cor held up his hand. “You know what, I’m not at a point where I can hear the story right now. I will let them assign you a place to live if you need it, and will come find you when I’m ready.”

[ ](https://imgur.com/apOF88J)

Cor signed off on the necessary paperwork to give Titus lodgings, and walked away, seething. Who does he think he is? Just walking in here, like nothing is wrong. As he walks back through the gates, he spots Libertus a few paces away and glares. “You knew it was him didn’t you, and you let me go out there unknowing.”

Libertus smiled and shrugged. “Yeah.. I did. He asked me not to say a word to you, so I didn’t. I wasn’t happy about sitting on that information, but I’m a man of my word, Marshal.” Libertus looked past Cor to watch people bringing in crates and boxes of goods from Titus’s truck. 

“He’s… Changed. He’s not the same man he once was, and once I gave him a chance to explain himself, I understood why he’s been in hiding.” Libertus paused and sighed. “Look, I’m not telling you to welcome him with open arms because I was pretty pissed off when I found him too, but I will ask you to give him a chance.”

Cor folded his arms and scowled. It wasn’t like Libertus to keep information from him, especially when it was something as big as this. Cor knew that Titus wasn’t the traitor that some people tried to paint him as after the fall, but it hadn’t eased the hurt that he had when he thought the man was dead.

“Help put the supplies away. If he accepts a place to live, the maps are pretty self explanatory, but if he gets lost, I guess be sure to help him with that too.” Cor turned to leave when Libertus caught his arm. Cor stopped and sighed. “I.. need a moment, Libertus. How would you feel if you thought the person you loved had died, and then suddenly showed up out of nowhere, alive and well, and had just been hiding away somewhere for the better part of a year?”

Libertus let go and nodded. “I get it, I do. Just give him a chance to talk to you. If it doesn’t pan out, well it doesn’t pan out.” 

Without looking back or saying another word, Cor walked off towards the offices to throw himself into work. While others will process the bulk of the paperwork, Cor would still need to make a new file for Titus to keep track of him. “That’s such a sad reality, keeping track of people…” Cor muttered to himself, but this had unfortunately become something they needed to do. 

Too many people had gone out on supply runs and gotten lost, and there were no answers to give to those left behind. Thus, each person had a file, stored away in the offices. If they leave the city for any reason, it’s recorded. It wasn’t fool proof, but so far it was the best system they had while trying to conserve energy. 

What electricity they did have was best spent keeping the lights on, apartments warm, and people fed. Things like computers and televisions were used very infrequently, not that they had much use for them now.

Cor pulled out a fresh folder before sitting down at his desk, wrote Titus’ name on the tab, and began filling out the general information on the sheet inside; His birthday, date when he arrived at Lestallum. General appearance and health. As Cor glanced down the sheet, he realized he would have to wait for the full report from Libertus and those at the gate to finish the folder. Titus had shown up with a pickup truck full of supplies, and there’s said to be more stashed away.

He sighed as he sat back in his chair and tossed his pen onto the desk. Closing his eyes, he listened to the low hum of the lights above him. How does a person hide away for an entire year without being seen or heard from? Why did he do it? Why was there no communication? Cor had a lot of questions swimming in his head, but no answers…. yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Cor allowed himself a week to mull over everything that had happened, and give Titus a little time to acclimate to living in Lestallum. The man had taken the offer for an apartment, moving in quickly, and lending his assistance to help around the city as needed. The paperwork Cor had been given to put into his file was extensive, but still missing some holes that would need to come directly from the man himself. 

Tapping his pen against his desk, Cor debated about how he wanted to go forward with talking to Titus. He wasn’t as angry as he was when he first saw the man standing there, but he was still upset, and there was a lot of hurt bubbling on the surface. Pushing his feelings aside, he set his pen down and stood up when there was a knock on his office door. 

Not expecting anyone at this hour in the morning, Cor furrowed his brow and made his way to the door. Upon opening, he saw Titus standing on the other side. A look of surprise painted his face before he quickly masked it with his typical stoic fashion.

“I was told I could find you here.” 

Cor took in the sight of the man, now that he was under proper lighting. Titus looked like he’d been to hell and back. A few more scars littered his face, bags under his eyes, and yet, he was still the same man. On the outside at least. 

Nodding his head, Cor stepped aside and let Titus into his office, gesturing to the chair across from his own. “What can I help you with, Drautos?”

Stick to formalities, that’s how he’d get through this.

Titus stepped into the office, hesitating a moment as Cor closed his door and walked back around to sit in his seat on the other side of the desk before sitting down in the chair offered. There was a look of worry that was on Titus’ face that Cor had never really seen in the past. 

Titus looked up to Cor and took a deep breath, his eyes dancing across Cor as if taking in his appearance. “I’m sure that you have a lot of questions, and I’m not sure I will have all the answers, but I would like to talk at some point about everything, when you’re ready.”

Cor quirked a brow, not entirely surprised at the forward approach Titus was taking, as both men were never ones to beat around the bush. “You’re right. I do have a lot of questions, along with a lot of anger and hurt that I’m still trying to figure out. I’m not ready to sit down and talk with you about all of that yet. Unfortunately for us we also don’t have the same kind of time we used to. If you haven’t noticed by now, there’s a lot of work going on just to ensure we survive. Taking out daemons, ensuring power supply can be routed to outposts we can reach, finding survivors and supplies.” 

Running his tongue across his teeth, Cor sat in silence for a moment as he mulled over what he wanted to say next. There was a lot to unpack, and he couldn’t let himself just sit in his own pity puddle. He had people to protect. Before he could speak back up, Titus snorted softly and began talking again. 

“Nope, hadn’t noticed a thing different since arriving. It’s just as I remembered it to be the last time I came through town.” Titus folded his arms and sat back in his chair. There was a ghost of a smile before his expression turned serious again. “I’m here because Libertus found me, well my cabin tucked away in the woods. I thought I had done a good job at hiding away, but he discovered my tire tracks and followed them. Then he found me inside. The words that came out of his mouth-” 

Titus cut himself off and shook his head. “That doesn’t matter and isn’t the point. The point is, I want to help. I have a decent working truck, I have more supplies stashed at my cabin that I couldn’t bring with me. Gas, water tanks, batteries, generators, food. The area won’t last long without someone living there to maintain the lights, so I’ll have to go back soon to gather everything up, but it will likely need two trucks. I know I fucked up, Cor. I have a lot to answer for, and I will try when you give me the time to do so, but for now, please let me help. I’m not as heartless as many have painted me to be.”

There was something about Titus that always softened Cor around the edges, and he hated that this moment was no different than the past. Sighing, Cor let his body relax in the chair, picking up the pen to tap it absentmindedly against the desk.

“I won’t deny that we could use the extra help and supplies…” He trailed off before making a noise of frustration, setting the pen down. “I cannot ensure that you won’t get nasty remarks thrown your way for disappearing for over a year, nor can I force anyone to go with you. Your best bet is to ask Libertus before he goes out on another mission to see if he will go with you, and if you and whoever agrees to go with you make it back in one piece, I will agree to sit and talk with you. I will even be nice and make dinner.” 

Titus smiled, appearing pleased at the answer he was given. As he stood up to leave, Cor could tell his whole demeanor had begun to shift. “Thank you Cor, truly. I hope what I can offer will help Lestallum and everyone else through this long night. Do you know where I can find Ostium?”

There was a hint of the Captain still left deep in the man, and the thought made Cor want to smile, even though it betrayed all other feelings he was having regarding Titus. Despite everything, Cor found that it was nice to see the man again, knowing that he wanted to help, to try and protect what little area of survival they had left. 

Cor stood to walk Titus out of his office, opening the door and following him out as they ventured down the hallway. “At this hour, he’s likely down at the gates, looking over reports from the previous evening, getting things ready for the day. If he’s not there, ask whoever is manning them.”

“Right. I will go there next.” Titus nodded his head as they fell into silence while they walked. Cor took a chance to glance at the man who appeared to be deep in thought as they made their way to the lobby of the building they were in. From the side, Titus looked a mixture of extremely tired, yet determined. It was a familiar look that Cor had seen many times when the Kingsglaive would be out on long missions, and they had lost communications. Titus trying to figure out how to regain control over the situation to bring his men home.

Cor was struck by how many things hadn’t changed since the last time he was the man. Not that it changed how he felt about the situation, Cor was still upset with Titus.

There were a few people standing near a small coffee percolator talking amongst themselves as Cor and Titus walked through the lobby to the main doors. The talking fell to a murmur as they watched the two men walk out, which Cor was happy to ignore. He knew more rumors would likely start up, but he didn’t have the time or patience to deal with them. 

As they stood on the steps, Titus stopped and turned to Cor. “Thank you for your time this morning. I promise, I will make it worth your while.”

Cor shrugged nonchalantly. “Just make sure you return in one piece. It would be a shame for you to have made it this far, and then die on me now.” 

A look of shock crossed Titus’ face, before a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “That would be a shame wouldn’t it? You’d be stuck with all those feelings you don’t actually like to deal with on your chest with no one to sling them at when you’re frustrated.”

It was Cor’s turn to look shocked, realizing that Titus could still read him like a book. As he tried to formulate a response, Titus chuckled and started to walk down the steps in the direction of the gate. “Keep those thoughts for now, we have a dinner to talk about them over.”

Cor stood there and watched Titus walk away, sighing and shaking his head. “Still as cocky as ever aren’t you?” He murmured to himself before he went back inside.


	3. Chapter 3

The walk from the makeshift offices to the gates didn’t take Titus long at all. He kept his gaze forward and ensured to stay out of the way of anyone walking around, not wanting to bring anymore attention to himself than he already had done. He knew how the people felt about him, especially the Glaives that were left alive. 

_“You’ve been alive this whole fucking time? You let us mourn over you, Nyx, Pelna…. And you’ve been here hiding out in this cabin?! You could have let us know. Do you know how hard it was to watch the Marshal come back after each mission, hoping for something, anything, that could tell him what happened to you.”_

Libertus’ words rang out in his head as he turned the corner and saw the man standing at the table. The man had every right to sling those words at Titus when he found him three weeks ago sitting in his cabin. Both of them were just as surprised to see the other. 

It took a few days of discussion before Libertus understood why he went into hiding, and promised that he wouldn’t tell Cor where he was under the assumption that Titus would come to Lestallum within a month. Titus wasn’t sure he wanted to open his door to an angry Marshal, so he agreed. 

He spent those three weeks getting what he could gathered together, locking up the rest of the supplies. It hurt him to leave the crops unattended, but he didn’t have the space to dig them up and transfer them, he only hoped that they weren’t completely destroyed. 

Titus pulled himself out of his thoughts as he walked up to the table. Libertus was going over the day's plans with what appeared to be a younger recruit, letting him go with a folder before he turned his attention to Titus.

“Mornin’ Drautos. What can I help you with?” Libertus gave him a nod before starting to shuffle through other reports and documents. 

“I was hoping you had time to spare to come with me to the cabin to retrieve the rest of the supplies I have stored there. It should probably be a two day trip to be safe. Get there, load up the trucks, sleep, drive back the next day. Cor figured I should come and ask you first before seeing if I needed to try and find someone else.” Titus folded his arms and shrugged.

Libertus looked up at him, cocked his head to the side and nodded. “Yeah, I can help you. I need to do a run in that direction anyway to drop off some weapons to the outpost between here and there. If you want, we can head out today. We have enough people within the walls today that I can be spared. Think you can get ready in an hour?”

Titus gave Lib a half smile, relieved that the man would be able to help him. Not that Titus wouldn’t have been able to ask someone else, but right now he wasn’t trusted by anyone yet. “Yes, I can be ready in an hour. Where should I meet you when I’m ready?”

“Here is fine.” With that Titus could tell he was dismissed, Libertus moving to speak to other people. Giving the man a quick nod, Titus went back to his assigned living quarters; One of the smaller rooms in the Leville that had been turned into an apartment. It was better than nothing.

Truth be told, it wouldn’t take Titus an hour to gather his things. Even including the walk, it took perhaps a total of fifteen minutes. An extra set of clothes, his cantine, and some food. He had his great sword tucked away in the truck, but had shifted to using shorter, lighter ones since leaving Insomnia. Too many memories were connected to his blade, many things he’d like to forget.

With nothing left to do, Titus sat and waited. He didn’t feel comfortable enough to wander what streets he could, and there wasn’t anything he could help with yet. 

The walk back to the gates was uneventful, other than noticing that there were more people out and about. People checking the various stalls, chatting amongst each other, children running about. It was nice to be around civilization like this again. 

Libertus was waiting for him at the table as he walked up. “Right on time. I have orders from Cor that we’re to be back no later than seven o’clock tomorrow night, and that you’re supposed to go to his apartment.” 

He handed Titus a small piece of paper with instructions and the apartment number on it. There was a hint of a smile on the man’s face as Titus looked back up at him. Before Titus could respond, Libertus was already waving him along.

“Come on, _Captain_. We’ve got supplies to go fetch.”


	4. Chapter 4

The apartment smelled of stew and baked bread when Cor heard the knock on the door. It was very rare that he took the time to make an actual meal, but he didn’t want to be a bad host. Wiping his hands off on a towel, he went to answer it, not surprised to see Titus standing on the other side. 

“I see you can still follow directions, and that you’ve made it back in one piece” Cor smirked as he invited the man inside. 

Titus chuckled as he stepped inside the small apartment, while Cor closed the door behind him. “Despite all odds, yes. I can follow directions when told. Libertus made sure to tell me to come straight here.”

“Make yourself comfortable. Dinner is almost done.” Cor gave Titus a flippant wave as he walked back to the kitchen, which gave Titus a moment to look around. He knew that most people connected to the crown had their own apartments in the Leville. It made things easier when they needed to conduct business, but Titus had never been too one before now. 

Setting his bag down next to the door, he began to walk around the small living room. There were reports littered along the coffee table, a small bookcase with a few too many books on it in the corner. A television that looked like it didn’t get much use anymore. It was simplistic, but very Cor. 

Titus made his way into the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe as he watched the man set up bowls of stew and cut the bread. It made him feel like they were back in his apartment in Insomnia. 

Cor turned to glance in his direction, nodding to the small table as he brought over two bowls of stew before going back to get the bread. “I can’t promise the bread is any good. It’s been awhile since I’ve made it from scratch. I was just lucky enough that we had all the ingredients needed.”

“I’m sure it’s fine. I wasn’t expecting this. Maybe a few cans of ravioli, or some mystery canned meat.” Titus sat down and took a deep breath. It smelled amazing, better than the last few meals he had had himself, both here and in his cabin.

Cor laughed quietly as he poured them both glasses of water, settling in across from Titus. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I only do fine dining like that while we’re out on missions.”

“You wound me sir. I guess that means I will need to start taking missions with you to get in on this fine dining.” Titus gave him a half smile before falling quiet as he dug in, making a soft moaning noise of approval. 

“I take it, it’s good?” Taking a bite himself, Cor tilted his head as he watched Titus eat a few more bites before nodding. “This… This is a lot better than most of what I’ve eaten the last month or two. Thank you, for the food, and for allowing me to come over and talk.”

“Of course. I’m a man of my word, aren’t I? And perhaps I wanted company.” A small smile danced on Cor’s lips as he watched Titus try to decipher his last words. “So, tell me. How did yesterday and today go?”

“The trip went quite well. Roads were clear enough. There wasn’t much damage to the area, or the cabin thankfully, and we managed to bring everything back. I drove on back first, while Libertus stopped at the outpost. He wasn’t too far behind me though, pulling in as I was leaving the gates.” Titus finished off his bowl, wiping up the leftover liquid with his bread.

“A lot of people were excited when they saw how much I brought back. You wouldn’t believe the look in Argentum’s eyes when he saw all the various mechanical parts and generator bits. You’d thought he died and went to heaven.” 

Cor interlocked his fingers and rested his chin on them as he listened, that small smile never quite leaving his lips as he let the man talk. He was perfectly content to just let the man talk about the quick trip.

“Libertus told me Tredd also survived, but is working with the hunters. Do you ever see him?” Titus almost sounded hopeful, that maybe he would get a chance to patch things up.

“On occasion. Typically I see him when I go to their outpost to exchange goods, get follow up reports. He doesn’t come here very often. I think he feels too guilty for being on the traitor side of the Glaives to show his face. Libertus and I have told him that he’d be fine coming here, but no dice. So we just talk to him when we see him.”

“Oh… Well I’m glad he made it… There were a lot of people who lost their lives…” Titus trailed off. “That’s why I left and hid myself away in the cabin. I was ashamed and felt guilty that I let so many of the Glaives die, that I let down our King, our people. Yes, Nyx and I defeated Glauca, but at what cost? The man… The man lost his life, he died in front of my eyes.” 

There was silence for a moment between the two men. Cor watched various emotions dance across Titus’ face before he began to speak again. “I know a lot of people thought I was Glauca. I heard the rumors, both before and after the fall. There wasn’t anything I could say then to dispute any of it, not that I was in the right mind to do so. So I renovated the cabin. Made the small piece of land livable again. There was a pond to fish, plenty of wild life. A small area for crops. It was good enough for me for the time being.”

Cor nodded, silently getting up to take their bowls back to the counter, mulling over his next thoughts. He set down the bowls, and turned around to lean against the counter. “So how exactly did Libertus find you?”

“I didn’t cover my tracks well enough.” Titus smirked. “I typically would leave from one of two areas, get out of my truck and cover up the entrance. I didn’t do it well enough and Libertus saw tire tracks, he got curious, and found the cabin. He walked in not realizing I would be sitting there and well… Many colorful words were screamed at each other. He ended up staying for three days, and we talked. He more or less understood where I was coming from, and agreed not to tell you that he had found me _unless_ I didn’t come within a month. I spent three weeks getting everything together before I showed up on your doorstep.”

Cor folded his arms, and let the silence between them sink in for a few beats before he sighed.

“I have to admit, I was really surprised when I saw you standing there. I thought you had died. I searched high and low, even went back to Insomnia to search the rubble and always came up empty handed. I finally had given up, and began to move on with my life again. Put my energy back into the Glaives and the people who need help to survive, and on the rare occasion, spend more time on myself. It was hard, believing you were gone.”

The silence grew between them as they held their gazes on each other, before Cor finally looked away. There was a lot of hurt, with a layer of what felt like betrayal almost. “It.. will take time…”

“I know it will. I’m not asking for you to forgive me right away, or forgive me at all I guess. Even though it hurt to think about, I had hoped that you would have been able to move on. Find someone else to help you heal from the hole I left.” Titus furrowed his brow, shifting his gaze to the floor. “To be completely honest with you… I didn’t expect to make it this long out there. I definitely didn’t expect to find my way back here, back to you. I don’t want to impede on anything you’ve built, I just want to keep those surviving alive, and make it through whatever is going on in the world.”


	5. Chapter 5

Cor stood in the middle of his kitchen almost dumbfounded by what Titus had just said. Find someone else? To Cor, that seemed like a sick joke. “What?”

Titus went quiet. “I understand If there’s someone else, Cor. I was gone for over a year.”

Cor let out a noise of exasperation and turned away from the man, bracing himself against the counter, head bowed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “There is no one else. It’s always been you and only you, Titus. Even when you were gone, I didn’t see anyone in the same light I saw you. You were my light in the darkness, and my life has been so cold and dark since you disappeared.”

Titus, in a bold fashion, got up and went behind Cor, wrapping his arms around him to bury his face into the man’s neck. “I am sorry, Cor. I handled everything that happened horribly and instead of facing everything head on, I ran like a coward. I’m here now though, and I have no plans on leaving again.”

Cor froze for a moment, not expecting the other man’s arms to be wrapped around him. After taking a few breaths, Cor relaxed slightly. The warmth of Titus against him was something he had missed dearly, the safety of his arms, and yet there were so many emotions running through Cor.

Could he just accept the man back into his life? Could they pick up where they left off? Both of them had changed since the fall of Insomnia, and with the looming darkness, was this really the best time to try to pick up the pieces of a broken relationship?

“I can tell the gears in your head are turning. All I’m asking is for you to give us a chance, and if it doesn’t work, we can say that at least we tried and didn’t give up entirely.” Titus’ words were soft, his breath warm against the skin on Cor’s neck, which made him shudder.

Cor stayed quiet before pressing back against Titus, relaxing completely. A soft sigh escaped his lips before he chuckled. “The logical side of me is screaming that this is a bad idea. That we need to focus on the darkness. Focus on protecting those who need it. Yet…” Letting go of the counter with his right hand, Cor found Titus’ hand and entwined their fingers together, running his thumb across the man’s palm and the new-to-Cor callouses. 

“We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. People are dying each day, with those left behind stuck with the ‘what ifs’ of words left unspoken.”

Letting go of his hand, Cor gently pried Titus’ hands off him and turned around to face the man, bringing a hand up to caress his cheek. The blue eyes held a gentle air about them as Titus smiled at Cor. “There’s still a lot that I want to talk to you about, but I won’t deny that I’m happy you’re here. Alive.”

“Does this mean…?” Titus’ smile turned into a playful grin, the same grin he would get when he knew he was winning an argument. 

Cor rolled his eyes, letting out a fake sigh, which turned into a soft chuckle as he . “Yes. I will give us a chance. I won’t go easy on you though.”

Titus wrapped his arms back around Cor, pulling him close, a triumphant smile planted on his face. “Good, you were never a man to hold back.” His voice was low as he leaned forward to kiss Cor. 

It was tentative at first as both men let down their guards, wanting to relearn each other. Cor wrapped his arms around Titus’ neck as the kiss deepened, but wasn’t hurried. Chapped lips, and sloppy tongues soon led to wandering hands and Cor being pinned to the counter. 

Letting out a soft noise of frustration, Cor pulled away, catching his breath. “As much as I’m enjoying this, I’d rather our first time back together not be on the kitchen counter. I think you’ll find the bedroom much more comfortable.” 

“Lead the way, _Marshal_.”

~~~~~

The next morning as Cor woke to the gentle breathing of Titus next to him, their limbs tangled together, he felt like there was a small ray of hope. Even if there was still much work to be done, he didn’t have to carry the weight of it all alone. While it would take a bit for people to warm back up to Titus, Cor knew Titus would be able to help him lead them through the endless night and safely into the dawn. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a short, "sweet" fic about Titus returning to Lestallum and Cor's life, and it feels like it took on a life of it's own. 
> 
> I may expand on this universe in the future. See how Cor and Titus tackle the darkness together as The Marshal and Captain of the Kingsglaive. We'll just have to see how well the muses strike!
> 
> <3 Thank you so much for reading!


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